Ipad: by apple we fell and by Apple still we tumble.

This weekend hundreds of men, women, and children will wait in line to buy the Ipad. The release has been hailed by the Financial Times as a, “polariz(s)ing moment,” for Apple as well as technological progress. A touch based product has been released before and failed, but not by Apple. There is hope for touch technology’s advancement.

The device operates on a platform that is navigated by touch. I am neither a tech-shaman nor electric historian- Clipse spits, “touchscreen component\makes ya hot don’it.” Yes, I am warm.

However, these advances cause me to wonder are we giving too much humanity to technology? Will history, in a Lepidoptera effect, remember this as an irreversible and a “so much depends upon a red wheel barrow,” event? Will this further contort, and warp the expectations of the common person? Let me elaborate:

Touch is a two part phenomenon; there is a catalyst and there is a reactor. A husband brushes the back of his wife’s neck. A jealous meatball pops a guy who was hitting on his girl in the face. An older divorcee’s fingertips linger as she places quarters in an attractive vendors hand. The nature of each situation is contingent upon both elements. With this technology one half of this equation is already calculated. Nothing that does not breath has been able to be able enter into this experience with us. Sylicon, plastic, glass, and metal now receive our touch, and from that information (to call touch information!) deduce our wishes. If a man did this to a human it would be strange slavery. If he did it to the raw materials in an Ipad he would be a lunatic.

There is suspense in the exchange, and humans cannot deduce, rely, or calculate the outcomes of touch. This technology provides the interaction with a reaction guaranteed.

I am not decided as to what I feel about the Ipad. I dislike the name (cringe at the obvious jokes that everyone knew long before they were made), but understand that there are only five vowels and that the letters i, p, and d need one. (ipud sounds like a mini-golfer with a lisp). I am interested to see what psycho-socio repercussions this technology will have on our everyday life.